Harsh Words From Judge in Android-Java Fight

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A federal judge blasted Google for missing a deadline in the buildup to a trial that will determine whether the Google Android infringes on patented Java applications. “Now, it is manifestly clear that Google failed to comply with its own stipulated procedure,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote. The judge took issue with an objection Google filed to Oracle’s evidence, complaining that it did not have time to analyze source-code citations raised in Oracle’s patent-marking brief. What Google should have done was pick up where Oracle left off, identifying additional products that it thinks practice asserted claims and evaluating the inclusion of products Oracle identified. Alsup ordered Google to “stand and deliver on its end of the bargain.” Since Google raised that patent-marking defense itself, it presumably has its own defense that shows which products are covered by the asserted claims, the three-page decision states. “Google must faithfully comply or withdraw its patent marking defense” by Feb. 14, Alsup wrote. He also ordered Google to specify source code and other evidence it claims are missing, a suggestion Oracle called “wholly untrue.” Oracle will have three days to respond. The latest object about Oracle, “even if it is a genuine one, cannot justify the wholesale refusal to respond at all as required by the stipulation,” Alsup wrote. The trial could begin as early as April or be delayed until the final months of 2012, depending on the resolution of pretrial disputes, including Oracle’s repeated submissions of an unacceptable damages report.